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I hide my feelings from everyone!

Discussion in 'Structured Educational Program' started by fraggle, Jul 12, 2018.

  1. fraggle

    fraggle New Member

    So I'm up to day 10 of the TMS structured program & the question i was asked is who do I hide my feelings from? Well basically everyone except my husband. As I suffer from anxiety as well as TMS I desperately want to just be normal. I want to be like everyone else so I don't give away my secret. I always put on a brave face & a smile when I'm out. I figure that if I remain positive it will soon become the norm. I'm not sure if this is repressing emotions or not. But I figure that if I keep harping on to people about my problems then it will just make matters worse. So I don't tell anyone anything. And when I feel it all gets too much I spill everything to my husband. Bless him.
     
    fraggle, Jul 12, 2018
    #1
    JanAtheCPA likes this.
  2. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    In college (45+ years ago) I had a close friendship with a brilliant guy who suffered from depression - I talked him "down" (or maybe "up" is more appropriate) more than once and we managed to get through school without him either overtly or inadvertently ending his life (substance abuse being an issue, of course). Some years later I mentioned to him that I had suffered from anxiety all my life, and he was absolutely astonished. That was the first clue I had about how well I had managed to hide it, because he was a pretty empathetic person (and he still is!) and would have picked up on it if I hadn't buried it so deep. And when I really thought about it, I realized that none of my friends had a clue. Doing this work, at age 60, I also realized I'd had TMS symptoms on and off my whole life, starting from childhood.
     
    JanAtheCPA, Jul 12, 2018
    #2
    Nina likes this.
  3. fraggle

    fraggle New Member

    Isnt' it amazing how our perception of ourselves is so different. I feel that the whole world must see how anxious I am, yet we appear quite calm to the outside world. Thank you for sharing, it makes it easer.
     
    fraggle, Jul 13, 2018
    #3
  4. Ivanka

    Ivanka Peer Supporter

    I am also extremely anxious most of the time and also very insecure, but basically nobody knows that.

    Last week my therapist told me he was a bit intimidated by me, because of my attitude. And I was like - what attitude?
     
    Ivanka, Jul 14, 2018
    #4
    fraggle likes this.

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